By way of introduction, I must note that I don't normally go in for meatloaf. Even the name makes me cringe. As a little kid at All Saints, meatloaf day was the one day I got to bring my lunch. My mom, who always insisted I clean my plate (or at least "just eat three more bites"), understood my aversion to any loaf made of meat. (I was also exempted from liver & onions, which my dad loves--but she couldn't very well make me eat it when she made an awful horrified face just cooking it.)

That said, this meatloaf is dreamy. As so often is true of delicious dishes, the secret is pork. The loaf itself features ground pork as well as ground sirloin, and the whole thing is draped with plenty of bacon. The other secret is sugar. It's basted with a brown sugar glaze, so it ends up with a and I first had this when Rebekah hosted of Recipe Club (R.I.P.). She copped it from Martha & this is pretty close to Martha's recipe. Serves 6.

3 slices white bread, crusts removed
1/2 c. milk
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 c. finely diced onion
1/2 cup. finely diced celery
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup finely grated carrot
1 lb. ground sirlion
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 large eggs
3 - 4 springs parsley, chopped up
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. freshly ground pepper & more to taste
1/2 lb. sliced smoked bacon

2/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1 tblsp. Coleman's yellow ground mustard
1 tbsp. tomato paste

If you want a meat & potatoes affair, you'll also want to add:
6 medium potatoes, washed, wedged, and blotted dry with a towel
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat the oven to 375°. Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes and place in a small bowl. Pour milk over it & set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery & garlic; cook until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat & let cool. If you don't go in for scrubbing pans, line a pan with foil. This baby makes a mess (although it comes up pretty easily if you fill the pan in hot, soapy water).

Place carrots in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk-bread mixture, meat, eggs, parsley, Dijon, salt & pepper and onion mixture. Combine well. Place mixture in a large ungreased baking dish (a 9 x 13 cake pan is about right) or roasting pan. Shape into a 5 X 12 inch loaf. Run bacon around the sides of the loaf, then overlap bacon across the top, covering meat, thusly:

Season with salt & pepper.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, ground mustard & tomato paste to make a glaze. Brush meatloaf all over with glaze. Bake, brushing every 15 minutes or so with glaze, until juices run clear when loaf is pierced with a 2 pronged fork & the bacon is crisp, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Martha cooks her veggies in the same pan with the meatloaf, but unless you have a really big pan, I'd advise against it. If the potatoes are touching the meatloaf, the bacon won't get crispy on the sides, and there's nothing grosser that a floppy peice of bacon. Instead, toss the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper & bake them in a separate dish. Once the bacon fat starts to run (probably around your second basting--30 minutes into the cooking), spoon off several spoonfuls of fat and toss it with the half-cooked potatoes. Then toss potatoes, adding more fat if you want, each time you baste the meatloaf.

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